Kia Oval announces plans to expand capacity to 40,000

Surrey CCC is working up development plans which would make the Kia Oval the largest cricket stadium in the UK with a capacity of 40,000.

The club aims to complete the project in time for the Ashes in 2023, with the centerpiece being a replacement for the Bedser Stand which could add up to 8,000 seats – as well as an enlargement of the existing OCS Stand. The ground currently has a capacity of 25,500, having already increased permanent capacity by 3,000 over recent years.

The club already has planning permission for a large development next to the Pavilion, 1 Oval Square, which is also able to incorporate additional capacity and facilities. Work could begin at the end of 2019, following on from the ICC Cricket World Cup, in which The Oval will host the opening game, and the next home Ashes series.

Speaking ahead of The Oval staging the ICC Champions Trophy final on June 18, Surrey CCC chairman Richard Thompson stated, “The time is now right for cricket to think on a bigger scale. This summer we have seen unprecedented levels of demand for cricket at the Kia Oval, whether it be for the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy, the 100th Test which takes place in July, or to watch Surrey CCC in the NatWest T20 Blast. We need to build on this success and have a ground that can satisfy the unprecedented demand we have created.”

Richard Gould, Surrey CCC chief executive, explained that the club is ideally placed to undertake this ambitious scheme: “Our business has taken off over the last five years and our reserves have quadrupled in size along with significantly higher profits.

“This has largely been driven through T20 cricket and an increase in our non-matchday business, but sales for international cricket also remain very strong. Most of our major games now sell out, either for county cricket or international cricket, and we need more seats to meet demand.

“The Kia Oval is a very friendly place to visit and with our central London location we enjoy the best transport infrastructure of any stadium in the country.

“We have a very large and loyal following of over 350,000 active cricket supporters spread across the south of England, and are also starting to see the benefits of the Battersea Nine Elms expansion which is delivering another 21,000 homes to our immediate neighborhood and adding to the population of London, which already stands at 8.6 million people.”

The Club has released a masterplan which has provided the inspiration for the development of the ground project in recent years, and will act as the design template for future projects.

“We have already received a positive response from early discussions with the ECB and our landlord, the Duchy of Cornwall,” concluded Thompson. “We will now work up more detailed proposals and financial models to share with our wider group of stakeholders.”